News

FDA approved Strensiq (asfotase alfa) as the first approved treatment for perinatal, infantile and juvenile-onset hypophosphatasia (HPP).

FDA approved patiromer (Veltassa, Relypsa) oral suspension for the treatment of hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia is the condition when blood potassium levels are higher than normal in the kidneys, which can lead to abnormal heart rhythms or sometimes death.

FDA approved meloxicam (Vivlodex, Iroko Pharmaceuticals, LLC) capsules, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), for the management of osteoarthritis pain in 5-mg and 10-mg doses administered once daily.

Study provides five key takeaways for managed care executives. View the five takeaways.

Prime Therapeutics conducted a study to estimate how many commercial members have ASCVD, but are not being treated with high-intensity statin therapy, as recommended in the 2013 ACC/AHA cholesterol guidelines. View the results.

Caring for survivors and finding best practices for new treatments

Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush unveiled his healthcare plan; one expert offers his ideas about it.

Here are five of key things managed healthcare executives should know about the act.

To put more risk-based dollars in the bank, payers need to master a new level of gathering and reporting on not just claims data, but clinical data as well.

The FDA this week approved Coagadex, Coagulation Factor X (Human) for hereditary Factor X (10) deficiency. Until the new orphan drug approval, no specific coagulation factor replacement therapy was available for patients with hereditary Factor X deficiency.

Laboratory diagnostics are essential tools of physician practice, informing many medical decisions. Physicians will increasingly rely on companion and other types of lab diagnostics that consider genetic, proteomic, or other markers in connection with drug treatment strategies.

Pain management is a problem for patients, practitioners, pharmacists, and others. Many patients are not getting the care and relief they deserve, even when they suffer from acute or chronic pain. In this blog post, Srinivas Nalamachu, MD asks if its possible to balance patient access to pain medication with safety and economic value.

Congressional standing to contest ACA insurance subsidies allowed but decision is in question

Brad Fluegel, chief healthcare commercial market development officer at Walgreens, discusses what managed care organizations and healthcare executives can learn from the success of retail clinics.

How will the increasing number of approvals for specialty medications affect managed care? Aimee Tharaldson, of Express Scripts, weighs in.

A new PwC report finds that most health system executives support the move away from fee-for-service (FFS), but struggle with how much they should invest in payment alternatives.

The CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which is being investigated by the government for raising drug prices, predicted more modest price increases ahead for the pharmaceutical industry.

Secukinumab may be an important new therapeutic treatment option for patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), according to a study published online in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Prescription opioid use disorders and deaths increased for the most recent 10 years tracked, even though the percentage of non-medical use of prescription opioids decreased, according to a new study.

The Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CCJR), has organizations’ leadership wondering how they will be able to perform in such a model. Here are some tips.

Hospitals and physicians must be diligent in the implementation of their meaningful use business or strategic plan.

How plans can achieve the right balance between cost and outcomes

On October 6, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released Meaningful Use-Stage 2 modifications and Stage 3 final rules.

Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled against the Department of Health and Human Services by saying that pharma companies do not have to offer rural and cancer hospitals that serve low-income populations 340B discounts on orphan drugs.

What managed care executives should know about rising drug prices, how they impact the healthcare system, and advice on what to do about it.

OptumRx program aims to ensure that optimal standards of quality are upheld by the pharmacies that produce and dispense them. Here's how the program works.